2008-09 club profile: Energa Czarni Slupsk
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 Another Eurocup newcomer hoping to reach high in the competition through the qualifying round is Energa Czarni Slupsk of Poland. Even when it is a newcomer at any level in European club basketball, the sport has been popular in Slupsk for a couple decades. The sports club was founded in 1945,
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Energa Czarni Roster 2008-09
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| Name |
Pos.
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Height
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| Lukasz Ratajczak |
F
|
2.01
|
| Pawel Malesa |
F
|
1.98
|
| Mantas Cesnauskis |
G
|
1.88
|
| Demetric Bennett |
G
|
1.93
|
| Marcin Sroka |
F
|
1.98
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| Jay Straight |
G
|
1.79
|
| Marcin Dutkiewicz |
G
|
1.96
|
| Pawel Leonczyk |
F
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2.02
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| Jack Ingram |
C
|
2.09
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| Rolando Howell |
F
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2.06
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| Hubert Pabian |
F
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2.02
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| Patryk Przyborowski |
F
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1.96
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| Andrei Podkovyrov |
Head Coach |
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but it was not until the late 1980s when Czarni Slupsk entered the Polish basketball scene. The team started its run in the Polish third division and needed a decade to climb to the country's elite. Then, in 1999, Czarni made its dream come true, downing Kujawiaka/Astorii Bydgoszcz in the promotion playoff to reach the Polish basketball elite. With players like Jaka Daneu, Zdravko Radulovic, John Taylor and David Harrison, Slupsk did not find much trouble staying in the first division, finishing eighth overall in the Polish League standings. Czarni kept fighting for a playoff spot from that moment forward, staying competitive against the big names in Polish basketball. In 2001, the team was one win away from reaching the semifinals, its best result until then. Players like Lamont Barnes, Andrzej Pluta, Radoslaw Hyzy and Przemyslaw Frasunkiewicz played for Czarni Slupsk before becoming stars in other teams.
Czarni missed the playoffs for consecutive seasons but bounced back in 2005, reaching the Polish Cup final, although Slask Wroclaw won their title game, 96-91. Czarni went one step higher in 2006, as Frasunkiewicz, Omar Bartlett, Alex Dunn and Miah Davis helped the team finish fourth at the end of the regular season with a 16-10 record. Czarni survived the best-of-five quarterfinal playoffs, downing Slask 3-1, but defending champion Prokom Trefl Sopot stood in the way to the finals. In 2007, Czarni kept its core of players and was fifth at the end of the regular season, but Anwil Wloclawek knocked the team off in the quarterfinal playoffs. Last season, Czarni added players like Michael Andersen and Lee Humphries but the team did not manage to improve its results. Czarni reached the eighthfinals playoffs but lost against Polpak S.A. Swiecie in the best-of-three series despite winning Game 1 on the road. Even with that, there is no time like the present for Czarni, which now enters the Eurocup qualifying round - its debut season in European club competitions - with high ambition and ready to make some noise.
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